If you’re making a movie about a rugged 19th-century stagecoach adventure, you’re presumably familiar with the idiom “putting the cart before the horse.” But Quentin Tarantino has always operated outside convention. So it’s oddly appropriate that a teaser trailer for his next movie, The Hateful Eight—a film that doesn’t even go into production until early 2015—will debut in theaters next weekend before screenings of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Though The Weinstein Company—which is distributing both films—declined to comment, sources close to the production tell EW that reports of a theater-only teaser are correct. It’s an ingenious marketing gimmick, since the teaser will not officially be made available online. Hence, some passionate fans might buy tickets to see Sin City just to get a glimpse of what Tarantino is working on next.

But what exactly is there to see in that 100 or so seconds of video? Is it a Hitchcock-style promo, in which the auteur addresses the audience? Is it footage from the star-studded April live-read? Or has Tarantino been filming on the sly, at least a few scenes to warrant a brief tease? Unlikely. Slashfilm reports that viewers can expect a steady stream of title cards—no doubt with some evocative Morricone-esque music.

The Hateful Eight, a vengeful western that will star Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, and Michael Madsen, has been the subject of much fascination ever since the script leaked online, causing the director to threaten abandoning it while suing Gawker for the site’s alleged role in the unauthorized posting.

Tarantino and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez share a long history, beginning with Rodriguez’s 1995 film, Desperado, and continuing in Four Rooms, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Grindhouse. The Django Unchained director recently was interviewed by his friend on a TV episode ofThe Director’s Chair.